1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to fish tapes of the type used by electricians to pull wire through conduit or other spaces, and more particularly to the fish tape reel assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fish tape is a stiff but bendable wire, flexible rod or flat tape typically used to install wire in conduit, through existing walls, or other tight spaces. Because typical electrical wire is very flexible, pushing it through long lengths of conduit is virtually impossible. Pulling wire along the desired path is much more effective. In order to pull the wire, a fish tape, being more rigid than electrical wire, is first pushed along the desired path. Once an end of the fish tape reaches the end of the desired path, the electrical wire is attached to the fish tape end, and the fish tape is retrieved which pulls the wire with it.
The fish tape is typically coiled inside of a reel assembly. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,780 has a generally annular tape receiving chamber bounded at its periphery by a pair of opposed lips, which separate to permit winding and unwinding of the fish tape in the chamber. A handle having a tape passage is mounted between the lips, which provides passage of the tape out of and into the receiving chamber. This reel arrangement makes it somewhat difficult to wind and unwind the tape. Given the relative rigid and springy characteristics of the fish tape, coiling the fish tape can require significant force and can be time consuming and frustrating, particularly if the tape binds inside of the reel. Moreover, initial assembly or reattachment of the fish tape to the reel may require the reel to be disassembled in order to anchor one end of the tape to an interior wall. And, once the tape coiled in the chamber the reel must be assembled (or reassembled) without the coil coming undone.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,038 provides a solution to the winding and assembly difficulties associated with conventional fish tape reels, as in the above mentioned patent. In this patent, the fish tape is contained in a cassette that loads easily into the main body of the reel. The cassette has its own handle for rotating the cassette relative to the reel body and thereby wind and unwind the tape. While this design provides significant benefits over other conventional fish tape reels, it lack ergonomic features that make it comfortable to operate.
One common problem with conventional fish tape reels is that the handle, as in U.S. Des. Pat. No. D408,749, is ordinarily a carrying handle for transporting the reel to and from a job site, for example, rather than being something to grip and brace the reel when unwinding, and especially, when winding the fish tape.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,609 discloses a purportedly ergonomic fish tape reel with a “pistol grip” handle. The pistol grip handle is beneficial because it permits the user to grasp the reel during the winding and unwinding processes with the user's wrist generally straight and in line with the forearm, thereby reducing strain on the user's wrist. However, the disclosed reel coils the fish tape in a cavity located horizontally behind the handle such that the reel would tend to cock back under the force of gravity and forces generated during the winding and unwinding processes such that user's wrist will have to overcome these forces, thereby straining the user's wrist.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,884 discloses a different approach to aiding the user in the winding process. In particular, this patent discloses a threader element that fits in the chamber between the opposite sides of the reel. The threader has an elongated body with a passageway through which the fish tape feeds into and out of the reel and a forward leaning handle extending up from the body. The threader is held fixed by the user and the rest of the reel is rotated by hand to wind the fish tape. The threader extends as a chord across an upper interior part of the reel diameter. By virtue of the force of gravity moving the reel downward and the spring force of the fish tape biasing the threader upward, the threader will assume this position during use almost in variably, with only slight difference in relative position. This location, in which the handle of the threader is positioned at a front side of the reel, is disadvantageous because the weight of the reel will tend to cause the wrist to cock backward, especially when winding the fish tape.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,040 discloses a fish tape device with a vertically oriented handle on a rear side of the reel assembly, with the tape dispensed through an opening on the other side of the reel assembly. This device is adapted with cam members for gripping and pulling, as when retrieving a wire, fish tape that was previously unwound from the reel assembly. This handle would cock the user's wrist forward and downward in use in order to support the reel assembly.